A New Direction in Public Policy Advocacy - D.C. Issues that Matter to You

Greetings!  As the new vice president of Public Advocacy for CompTIA, I am really excited to be leading the reorganization of CompTIA’s public policy and advocacy efforts to better serve our more than 1,500 members and thousands of tech entrepreneurs who are creating jobs and powering the U.S. economy.

Small and medium-sized (SMB) technology firms - and the many policy issues that concern them - have long been underrepresented in Washington.  The status quo is not acceptable.  So CompTIA has refocused our Washington presence on conveying the impact and value of the IT industry to federal and state policy makers, as well as other policy stakeholders that shape the political debate (such as not-for-profit think tanks, universities and foundations).

As part of our reorganized effort, CompTIA Public Advocacy will closely coordinate with and participate in the CompTIA member-driven communities who provide such terrific thought leadership on critical issues such as IT security, healthcare IT, cloud computing and other emerging technology trends, all of which will be impacted by tax, regulatory, security and compliance challenges. We will also give focus to workforce and education issues.  And we will be re-invigorating the Public Advocacy Council.

Through the member communities, the Public Advocacy Council and other avenues, we will actively seek the input of our members and partners to define CompTIA’s public advocacy efforts. To that end we are working with our research team on a member survey to get your input on the policy and regulatory issues facing you and your companies, and to determine the scope of services you’d like CompTIA to provide.  Please look for this survey and participate.  Beyond that we will be reaching out to CompTIA members directly in the coming weeks seeking your insights and support.

Communications vehicles like this blog will play a critical role in CompTIA’s policy advocacy. We want you to know what we are doing, and we want your feedback.  We will be evaluating and looking to utilize tools that allow us to launch a legislative monitoring portal aimed at keeping our members and partners up-to-date on legislation and regulations being promulgated at the Federal, state and local government levels. CompTIA will also rally support for the IT industry through our recently established federal Political Action Committee (PAC).  In the future, we will reach out to a network of state and regional PACs to bolster the impact and message of the tech entrepreneur.

CompTIA is well positioned to significantly raise the profile of the needs and interests of IT SMBs. The government relations team and I look forward to working with you to provide great public policy value to members.  There will be much more to follow so stay tuned.  We look forward to Advancing the Global IT Industry together!